經律異相 14.49

14.49

佛住舍衛城。時諸比丘集在一處。共作是論。善法講堂柱柱樑不。目連言。柱樑。又有一無歲比丘言。不柱。即遣神足比丘往看。還言不柱。諸比丘語目連言。汝不知。何故言柱。妄語不實應擯驅遣。即集眾僧。佛乘神足從空而來。知而故問。諸比丘。汝作何等。答言。目連乃至不柱答柱。不實妄語欲作羯磨。佛問無歲比丘。汝云何知不柱。答言世尊。我曾一時。在善法講堂坐禪。佛語目連。汝何故不自看。汝應審實。目連心實而不犯戒（出僧祇律第二十九卷）。

The Buddha was dwelling in Śrāvastī. At that time, the monks gathered in one place and engaged in this debate: "Do the pillars of the Sudharmā lecture hall support the crossbeams or not?" Maudgalyāyana said: "They support the crossbeams." Another junior monk said: "They do not support them." Thereupon they dispatched a monk possessed of supernormal feet to go and look, and he returned saying that they did not support them. The monks said to Maudgalyāyana: "You did not know, so why did you say they supported them? You spoke falsely and untruthfully, and should be expelled and driven away." They then assembled the saṅgha. The Buddha, riding on supernormal feet, came through the air; knowing, he deliberately asked: "Monks, what are you doing?" They answered: "Maudgalyāyana, when [the pillars] did not support [the crossbeams], answered that they did support them. Since he spoke untruthfully, we wish to perform a saṅghakarma." The Buddha asked the junior monk: "How did you know they did not support them?" He answered: "Bhagavat, once I was sitting in meditation in the Sudharmā lecture hall." The Buddha said to Maudgalyāyana: "Why did you not look for yourself? You should verify the truth." Maudgalyāyana's mind was sincere, so he did not violate the precept (taken from the twenty-ninth fascicle of the Sengqi lü).